Unforgettable
by theabridgedkuriboh
Summary: Noboru just can't cope with the fact that he will never see Gao again, to the point where his mind is playing tricks on him, making him believe that Gao is still with him. But when Noboru realizes the truth, he breaks down and comes to a realization that just may help him pull himself together.


Hello Buddyfight Fandom. This is theabridgedkuriboh again with another fic revolving around Gao and Noboru. Now please bear with me, since Noboru has been gone for a long while, like almost five episodes or so, his character is starting to fade on me, and by that I mean, how he acts. I did my best in remembering how his character is portrayed, however since this is around when Noboru is in university/college age, he is a bit older, but whatever. Noboru is still my little shit no matter how old he is or how he acts.

Also, this was really just a random idea that flashed through my mind since I was a bit...depressed if you can say that, but it does have a happy ending which was not planned but whatever.

I plan to write more Buddyfight fanfics soon, so remember to look out for them.

* * *

Unforgettable

Life was going well for the blonde and black haired buddyfighter as he sat in his dorm room, a smile on his face as he stared at a photo of his best friend from elementary school. Golden yellow eyes stared into light green and a grin as wide as can be plastered on his face that was so bright that Noboru couldn't help but smile back at.

He and Gao have always been friends, as close as could be, Noboru was even the one to teach him how to Buddyfight, but it was Gao and his friends that helped him grow. Noboru had always envied Gao's incredible Buddyfight skills and how they grew so rapidly. It was as if he was born with a natural talent for it.

"Hey Noboru, what are you staring at?"

Noboru looked up from the photo and looked over at the other end of his bed. Gao gave him a look of boredom as he leaned against the wall, his right leg over his left as he sat. Noboru placed the photo back on the desk and turned to face his friend.

"Nothing. Just thinking is all." Noboru replied as he leaned against his swivel chair.

Gao rolled his eyes and moved over towards the edge of the bed and gave Noboru a look of disbelief. "I know its not "nothing" so you better tell me what's up?"

"Like I said Gao, its nothing. I was just remembering something." Noboru replied. He getting a little annoyed.

Gao crossed his legs into a pretzel as he looked upon his friend. "Well what were you remembering?"

Noboru smiled to himself as he stared out the window. "I was remembering our times back at Aibo Academy in elementary school. We were so young and naive. Everything was Buddyfighting and friends." Noboru clenched his fist atop his desk as he stared up at the sun as it shined bright. "I remember how we were rivals in the arena and wanted nothing more than to defeat each other."

Gao grinned and scratched his cheek. "Yeah, those times were the best. With every fight we had, we got stronger. Everyone we fought was so intense. I miss those days when Buddyfighting was the only worry we had. Now its projects, reports and exams. How lame."

Noboru gave a short laugh at his friend's replied opinion. He knew Gao would rather fight and do his jujustsu training like before, however, those days have passed. Noboru knew this. Their love for the game was as strong as ever, however, with all the work the school piles onto you, finding time is a miracle.

"I know what you mean. Its not easy but someone has to do it." Noboru said to himself.

"How about we get someone else to do our homework and we go off to the stadium and have a quick match." Gao teased.

Noboru shook his head in disbelief and chuckled in amusement. "Nice try Gao, but I don't think so."

"Ugh~ you're no fun." Gao moaned.

A comfortable silence fell upon the two. Noboru looked back at the folder on his desk that was left unopened that had his next assignment that needed to be completed. He knew he would be up for a little while since it required a lot of brain power.

Gao noticed Noboru's gaze was on the yellow folder and sighed. "Oh come on, you're gonna ditch me for an assignment that's not even due for another week. So cruel."

"Well what do you want from me? You said we never have time to buddyfight, so why not get everything done ahead of time." Noboru watched as Gao loosened up for a moment. "If you want, you can help me out and in return, I'll help you out when you need a hand in something."

Gao looked Noboru in the eye for a moment before drifting over the folder. He seemed to be having a mental battle with himself as he tried to decide what he wanted to do.

"Whatever man. I can always use a favor. But just to let you know, I may not be much help." Gao finally replied.

"That's cool." Noboru said as he stood up from his chair. "I'm going to go and get some coffee. You want to come?"

"Nah, you go ahead. I'll wait right here." Gao replied.

Noboru nodded. "Alright, be right back Gao." Noboru said before walking out of the room.

As he walked down the hallways towards the kitchen, two girls walked by on their way back to their own dorms. The blonde watched as Noboru walked right passed her. She gave him a weird look. Her friend, the brunette noticed this and bumped her arm.

"What's with the look? Do you not get along or something?" The brunette asked.

The blonde sighed. "No, its nothing like that Anna, its just that," She looked over at Noboru's dorm room. "He seemed to be talking to Gao. Which is odd on so many levels?"

"How so?" Anna asked. She placed a finger under her lip and began to think. "Are they not friends or something?" She looked back at her friend. "Wait. Who's Gao?"

The blonde's eyes sadden and she held an arm across her body as she felt a painful wave of sorrow run through her. "I don't know him personally. But I've heard of him. All I really know is that Noboru and Gao were really close." The blonde looked over at her friend. "And that Gao died in a fiery plane crash."

Anna's eyes widen as she heard that last part. She placed a hand over her face and looked in front of her. She stopped in her tracks and could not move.

"Oh my god. That's awful." She raised her head. She removed her hand from over her mouth. "Wait, if he died, then how is he here?"

"That's the thing," The blonde placed a hand on her hip. "He is dead. It was all over the news. He's been dead for over a month already. It happened before spring break. Apparently the plane's engines malfunctioned and it went down and hit a large forest. It was a horrible explosion. I don't think anyone survived that day."

Anna looked back behind her in the direction that Noboru went. "Poor guy. He must be devastated. Perhaps his mind has created a likeness to Gao so that he could cope." Anna placed a hand over heart. "I am studying this kind of thing. Maybe we should go and talk to him."

"No way, I don't associate with crazy people." The blonde mumbled before walking away.

Anna sighed and ran after her friend. "Wait up Jess."

* * *

As Noboru began pouring the coffee into the coffee cups he had placed out, he could her a faint voice coming from the hallway. He figured it must have been those girls he passed a few moments ago. Noboru hadn't really taken much notice to them before as he was in a rush to get to the coffee that he barely noticed them walking by him.

"I don't know him personally. But I've heard of him. All I really know is that Noboru and Gao were really close."

Noboru raised his head and placed the coffee pot down as he heard his name along with Gao's being spoken about from the hall. He grabbed his cups and started off towards the door. He was never one for gossip. However, to be spoken about in said gossip was where he crossed the line. He never liked being talked about.

"And that Gao died in a fiery plane crash."

Everything seemed to stop right at that moment. No one spoke. It was absolutely silent. Noboru stood in complete shock. Even the girls in the hall were silent.

Noboru felt the cup in his right hand slip from his grasp and it crashed to the floor. The plastic cup rolled across the tile floor as the hot liquid spread across the floor causing quite a mess. Noboru blinked a few times and then looked down at the mess. He then looked at his hand that had once held that cup that was now sprawled across the floor.

"Oh my god that's awful." Noboru bit his lip and squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to tune them both out. He knew they were lying. They had to be. Gao was still alive. He was in his room. They were about to start his Literacy class project. He was still alive dammit. "Wait, if he's dead, then how is he here?"

"_Because he's still alive." _Noboru thought to himself.

"That's the thing. He is dead. It was all over the news. He's been dead for over a month already. It happened before spring break. Apparently the plane's engines malfunctioned and it went down and hit a large forest. It was a horrible explosion. I don't think anyone survived that day."

"Liars." Noboru hissed to himself. Noboru kicked the trash can that was closest to him. Garbage was sprawled all over the floor and the can now rolled onto the floor along with everything else. "You're all liars. Gao is alive. I know he is. He's always been there. I'm not crazy."

"Poor guy. He must be devastated. Perhaps his mind has created a likeness to Gao so that he could cope."

"Likeness? How would that work? Not even my own mind could create Gao the exact same way he was." Noboru growled.

"Maybe we should go and talk to him."

"No way, I don't associate with crazy people."

Noboru listened as their footsteps began to grow more and more distant. He was grateful because if they had spoken another lie about his friend, he didn't know what he would do. He knew that he was going to leave this room and walk back into his dorm room to see Gao sitting on his bed waiting for him to return.

Noboru left the kitchen and headed back to his dorm room. He had his hand wrapped tightly around his coffee cup when he walked inside the room.

To find it completely empty.

Noboru began to panic. He started to look around. Inside his closet. Under his bed. Out the window to see if he had went for a walk. He grabbed his phone to call his friend, but something else was wrong now.

He didn't have Gao's number in his phone.

"What the hell?" Noboru mumbled.

He didn't like this. Something was wrong here. Where did Gao go? Why was his number no longer in his phone?

Noboru looked over at his desk. He saw the picture of Gao that was on his desk. It was next to a small vase of flowers as well. Something poked out from behind the photo. Noboru ran over to his desk and grabbed the frame from atop his desk and moved the back so that he could reach inside and pull out the small piece of paper.

What he saw when he unfolded that paper made his heart drop into his stomach.

Fiery airline crash just outside of California, the headline written in bold and in capital letters was the first thing that Noboru noticed. Next, was the eyewitness photo of the plane up in the flames as the cover photo.

Tears rolled down the blonde's face as he realized the girl's lies, were nothing but truthful statements. He didn't want to believe it, but there were right. Gao truly was gone. The fire, the crash, they took his life.

Gao was so young. He was such a great buddyfighter. He would have made it big if this had not happened to him.

"Did I miss him that much that my mind made me believe that he was still alive? I've been walking around, a shell of a person in denial. How pathetic." Noboru clenched his fingers around the newspaper article and fell to his knees. He let the tears roll down his face as he looked at the photo of his friend that lay on the floor inside its frame. "I'm sorry Gao. Its my fault you're dead. I shouldn't have asked you to come and see me."

* * *

"_Are you serious man? You want me to come down and hang out? Dude that's awesome." _

_Noboru smiled as he listened to his friend ramble on and on in excitement. He hadn't heard his friend's voice in so long, he didn't care what he said or went on about, as long as he heard that voice of his. _

"_Its almost spring break. Its the perfect time to come on down to the U.S so we can hang out. I heard your mother has come down to teach Jujutsu a few years back, now its your turn to visit this place and check it out." _

"_Sounds great. Drum loves food so I bet he would love to try some of the food they make over there." Gao pointed out. _

"_Of course. Any food that looks good, tastes good, smells good, goes inside my belly." Drum voiced with a grin. _

_Noboru looked over at his calendar that hung up on his wall. "Great. Spring Break is just in a few weeks. I'd start preparing soon Gao." _

"_You got it Noboru. I'll call you in a little bit. Its getting late." _

_Noboru looked outside his window. The sun had just risen not to long ago where he was. He forgot about the time difference in his excitement to talk to Gao that he forgot that it was really late back in Japan. _

"_I'll let you go so you can get some rest. But just to let you know, when you get here in a few weeks, I have some things I want to talk to you about. Its important." _

"_Whoa, if its that important that you want to say it to my face I'm definitely excited. I'll call you soon Noboru. Later." _

_Noboru heard the line on his cell phone go dead and he smiled to himself. "Later Gao." _

* * *

Noboru slammed his fist into his carpeted floor and ran his finger through the carpet fibers in his rage. His whole body shook as he cried.

"Dammit. Why couldn't I have just gone to see him? Why did I have to be selfish and make him come see me?" Noboru pushed everything off his desk and it took no effect to his being as he listened to his papers scatter onto the floor and the small flower vase crash onto the floor. "Why didn't I just tell him how I felt over the phone?"

"Do you even hear yourself right now, boy?" Noboru turned around and faced his buddy monster who gave him a look of disappointment. "Putting the blame on yourself won't get you through this."

"Well what do you expect me to do? If I hadn't offered Gao to come here and spend the break with me, he wouldn't have been on that plane that crashed."

"Be quiet boy. You're negative words are sickening." El Quixote slammed his cane down into the carpet flooring which made Noboru stop himself from speaking. El Quixote then continued. "Look Noboru, you had nothing to do with what happened to your friend. No one is to blame. What happened to Gao was a horrible twist of fate."

"Horrible twist of fate? You expect me to believe that. If there is anyone to blame that isn't me, its that airline that let those people on that plane without seeing the problem with the engines before it took off." Noboru shouted.

"I understand that you are still hurting Noboru, but you must relax. You cannot keep pushing the blame onto yourself. It will only hurt you more in the end. Your friend would not want that." El Quixote said as he pet the large dog that sat beside him.

"I know that, but" Noboru looked down at the photo that lied on the floor of his room and picked it up. "I just don't know if I will be able to let him go. He was important to me. You know that."

El Quixote frowned at Noboru as he watched the blonde stare into the picture as if he is waiting for Gao to speak through it. He knew that Noboru missed Gao a lot. That much was plainly obvious. However, watching him suffer like this, was painful to watch.

"I understand your pain. Why you hurt is understandable. However, if you are to grieve, it would be best to try and figure out a way to do it in a peaceful way that will honor Gao, but also keep you at peace at well."

Noboru placed a hand over his heart and sat down on his bed. He lied back onto his back and tried not to think too much. He knew that El Quixote was right. His logic made so much sense to Noboru that he wanted to use that logic and honor Gao in anyway he could.

Noboru clenched his fingers around the fabric of his shirt. "I understand what you mean. I think I know just a way to do that."

El Quixote smiled. "And what would that be?"

* * *

"Hey Noboru," Noboru turned to look at the brunette girl that he passed by in the halls yesterday. "Are you feeling okay? Some of the others said you were really upset yesterday. What's wrong?"

Noboru smiled to himself and looked away from her. "Everything's fine with me now. Nothing to worry about."

"Really? Was it about Gao?" Anna asked.

Noboru was silent for a moment before he responded. "Yeah, it was about Gao." Noboru mumbled.

"I understand. Though, if you were really upset, something must have happened to cheer you up. Can you tell me what it was?" Noboru took out his core deck case that held his cards and placed it atop his desk. Anna tilted her head to the side as she wondered what the cards meant that resulted in Noboru's mood? "Buddyfighting? What does that have to do with Gao and your mood?"

"That's just it." Noboru spoke with a smile. Noboru took out his cards and began to look them over. "Buddyfighting was one of the things that Gao charished most as it helped him make friends when he had none. We were both friends and rivals because of the game. So, I thought, "why not honor him through that game?" Which lead to the conclusion of me becoming the best Buddyfighter for Gao. That will be my tribute to him. Becoming a world famous buddyfighter who fights for what he believes in, that was Gao dream. The Mighty Sunfighter. A dorky name but its meaning is what truly means the most. Do you understand what I'm coming from?"

Anna smiled and nodded to Noboru. She understood completely. The whole "Sun Fighter" thing she didn't completely understand, but everything else made a lot of sense.

"Honoring a fallen friend by continuing on with his dream yourself. That's really sweet of you Noboru." Anna commented.

Noboru placed his cards back. "I don't see it as sweet. I see it as justice, as Gao might have put it."

"Justice huh? Well either way, I hope you achieve that goal, for both you and for Gao."

"Don't worry," Noboru grinned. "Buddyfighting is in my blood. This is something that I definitely won't give up on. I'm doing it for Gao after all."

* * *

Oh my gosh I am so evil. I hate myself sometimes. I swear to god it was episode 19 that caused this with its angst and shit. *cries* Anyways, review everyone. I love hearing from you guys.


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